Players were discussing this after the last game session. Before I make a ruling, I wanted some insight. If a party is in Leomund's Tiny Hut, could an area of effect spell of 3rd level or lower, that is upcast to 4th level or higher penetrate the walls of the sphere? I can see this becoming a hot debate topic this upcoming week. My feeling is with the upcast at 4th or higher, it would have enough energy to pass through the walls. My reasoning lies in the fact that 4th level spell slots or higher utilize more magical energy than those lower. Hence, enough energy to pass through the barrier.
When a spellcaster casts a spell using a slot that is of a higher level than the spell, the spell takes on the higher level for that casting. For instance, if a Wizard casts Magic Missile using a level 2 slot, that Magic Missile is level 2. Effectively, the spell expands to fill the slot it is put into.
TarodNet is correct. An upcasted spell is considered to be the level at which it's cast.
For additional context, the legacy version of Globe of Invulnerability used to specifically state that it blocks spells of 5th level or lower even if they were cast at a higher level. This didn't mean that a 4th level spell upcast to 6th level wasn't a 6th level spell, but simply that Globe of Invulnerability only cared about the base level of the spell. So unless a feature calls out an exception like that, upcasting appropriately will bypass the protections of those features such as Leomund's Tiny Hut.
Players were discussing this after the last game session. Before I make a ruling, I wanted some insight. If a party is in Leomund's Tiny Hut, could an area of effect spell of 3rd level or lower, that is upcast to 4th level or higher penetrate the walls of the sphere? I can see this becoming a hot debate topic this upcoming week. My feeling is with the upcast at 4th or higher, it would have enough energy to pass through the walls. My reasoning lies in the fact that 4th level spell slots or higher utilize more magical energy than those lower. Hence, enough energy to pass through the barrier.
Any other thoughts would be appreciated.
I'd say you're right:
TarodNet is correct. An upcasted spell is considered to be the level at which it's cast.
For additional context, the legacy version of Globe of Invulnerability used to specifically state that it blocks spells of 5th level or lower even if they were cast at a higher level. This didn't mean that a 4th level spell upcast to 6th level wasn't a 6th level spell, but simply that Globe of Invulnerability only cared about the base level of the spell. So unless a feature calls out an exception like that, upcasting appropriately will bypass the protections of those features such as Leomund's Tiny Hut.
Thank you Both For the help.